Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

The next morning, the sun rose as usual.

After a whole night of rest, the Kwantung Army launched another attack.

In general, the tactics adopted by the five divisions are still the same old ones from the previous few days. It is obvious that they are going to carry out the strategy of using one new trick to win every battle.

Benzi first concentrated all his artillery regiments, with the 105mm Type 150 howitzer as the absolute main force and a small number of howitzers as supplements, and continued to output to the last line of defense of the Shandong Provincial Military District.

As if to end the battle in one go, the Japanese's firepower preparation this time was surprisingly strong and lasted for more than an hour.

Looking at the Jiaolai Plain, which was like a purgatory volcano, the face of Lieutenant General Kanji Nishihara, commander of the 23rd Mechanized Division, flushed abnormally.

With that pointed head and big red face, anyone can tell that the old Japanese has been spraying a lot of pesticides recently.

"Good, very good. It seems that in this final battle, all the division commanders pulled out their best weapons, and no one was hiding their abilities."

"Tsk, this scene is truly spectacular. For our country today, more than a hundred large-caliber artillery pieces attacking at the same time is unprecedented."

"By the way, I remember that when the 105th Army besieged Mai Paopao at the beginning of this year, it only used less than a hundred mm howitzers. With today's firepower, it can be said that this tiger in the forest was buried with great fanfare."

Nishihara Kanji's emotion immediately resonated with the division staff.

They nodded in succession, and each of them looked confident of victory, as if they could kill all the senior commanders of the Shandong Provincial Military Region in the next second.

Just when the Japanese were having an orgasm and their minds were full of thoughts, the general attack officially began.

"What a black card! Onboard!"

Accompanied by the classic Showa charge slogan, the three infantry regiments of the 23rd Mechanized Division took the lead in attacking. They drove tens of thousands of line-filling babies gathered from all over the place and led the way into the battlefield.

Behind each infantry battalion's attacking column, the squadrons of the 1st Tank Division slowly advanced.

These light and medium tanks, armored vehicles and artillery fighting vehicles keep their eyes and ears open and are always ready to stop and fire to help the human reaction armors that are protecting them.

In a short period of time, more than 40,000 people poured into the front battlefield of the entire Jiaolai Plain.

Looking down from the sky, the Japanese soldiers seemed like a swarm of locusts passing through, rushing towards the Eighth Route Army's defense line from multiple angles and in batches.

"Baga! Seventeenth Squadron, are you all blind? Open your eyes! If you crush our friendly infantry again, you will all be sent to the teaching brigade for retraining."

"Thirteenth Squadron, your unit is about to enter the range of the enemy's anti-tank artillery. Load the high-explosive shells, and if you find the Eighth Route Army's anti-tank positions, stop the car and open fire on the spot."

"All squadrons, you must strictly follow the route cleared by the artillery fire. We must not only annihilate the enemy, but also use a beautiful exchange ratio to mourn the spirit of Major General Yutian!"

In the main attack direction of the Japanese army, the Major General and Brigade Commander of the 2nd Tank Brigade, Ryoichi Shibata, roared continuously.

In order to take control of the overall situation, the Japanese used radio, flag signals and light signals in turn, and he was almost as busy as a top.

Seeing that each squadron was gradually getting back on track, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although it was cruel, Ryoichi Shibata had to admit one thing: actual combat was truly better than any simulated training.

In response to the problems exposed in previous offensive and defensive battles, the combat system of the 1st Tank Brigade has obviously matured a lot.

When the artillery regiment under the division was bombarding, it deliberately used artillery shells to clear the anti-tank mines on the offensive front, opening up a relatively safe passage for each squadron.

Similarly, after the previous running-in, the cooperation between the warriors and the friendly forces has become much more tacit. After a battle, the bicycle can only crush a few infantrymen at most.

Of course, the war was equal for both sides. They were making progress, and the Eighth Route Army in Shandong Province naturally did not stagnate.

······
It was a life-and-death battle, and the battle became intense from the beginning.

Without the restriction of luring the enemy deep into their territory, the main divisions and guard brigades of the Shandong Provincial Military District can finally let go and do their best.

Every step forward the Japanese soldiers took came at a heavy price. Less than an hour after the battle officially began, two-thirds of the tens of thousands of cannon fodder had been killed.

Those Miss 75s who emerged from trenches, fortifications, or even some corners were impossible to defend against.

Facing the rapid-fire cannon in the pit, not to mention ordinary flesh and blood bodies, even the Type 97 medium tank could not be spared.

In a sense, the orthodoxy of French chicken is really in TG.

The M1897 suffered repeated setbacks on the battlefields of World War I, and failed to bring about the rapid-fire artillery revolution envisioned by the army's top brass. However, more than years later, on the battlefields of the Republic of China, this old gun unexpectedly enjoyed a second life by chance.

"These devils are really crazy. I wonder how many drugs they have taken?"

Looking at the battlefield in the distance and the suicide squads rushing forward while shouting "Load!", Commander Liu of the Third Division couldn't help but frown.

When they were fighting against the Type B Division, the Guard Division, and several independent mixed brigades of the 12th Army, although the enemy could be described as crazy, they were still more or less rational.

It was nothing like now. The enemy, without any heavy firepower support, actually dared to rush forward with explosive packs, relying only on the cover of smoke bombs, grenade launchers and small-caliber field artillery.

Absolutely crazy.

As soon as these words came out, the chief of staff of the Third Division cast his eyes over. After a brief thought, he immediately gave a sharp answer.

"Medicine alone is not enough. These devils who used human flesh to clear the way must be staunch militarists."

"I heard from Chief of Staff Liu some time ago that there were similar situations on the Eastern Front in Europe. Those extreme SS troops would really force you to self-destruct if they disagreed with you."

"Ah."

The commander of the Third Division nodded in agreement, and then he changed the subject and said to the staff officers behind him:
"Let the artillery regiment in the rear prepare for battle. We can't let the Japanese continue to charge forward. We have plenty of ammunition and we have fortifications in front to support us. I don't want to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy."

"By the way, connect me to the battle command."

"According to the current situation, the Japanese 105mm and 150mm howitzers will definitely join the battle again. After holding back for so long, I'm sure the comrades in the artillery are also eager to take action."

As soon as he finished speaking, huge fireballs suddenly rose up on the front line.

Judging from the destructive power, this was obviously not the work of the Type 41 mountain gun, Type 90 field gun or Type 1 gun tank.

Affected by the bombardment, the firepower of the 1st Regiment of the 3rd Division was weakened. The Japanese also seized the rare opportunity and rushed forward with the support of their own artillery.

······
Divisional artillery, as the name implies, is the artillery directly under the division level unit. In the Eighth Route Army, the main force divisions are generally equipped with 105+155 howitzers.

A very small number of small Gundams with strong maneuverability and rapid motorization progress can even pull along an entire company of 105xs.

During the battle, this divisional artillery regiment needed to take over the positions, suppress the Japanese infantry, and occasionally engage in confrontation with the enemy's artillery of the same level.

Of course, there aren't many opportunities to engage in cannon fire in the middle.

After all, the Second Air Division of the Eighth Route Army Air Force is a world-renowned close support force, and they would be dispatched collectively to pick up French fries whenever there was a major battle.

As for army-level artillery, the nature of this support unit is rather special.

In theory, military artillery not only does not have a fixed organization, it does not even have a fixed framework. Most of the time, they are allocated on demand or flexibly according to financial resources.

Take the army-level troops in Guosu for example. Most of the local troops and some central troops are extremely poor, and the entire army may not be able to put together a fully staffed and equipped howitzer regiment.

Let’s look at the 11th Army of the German Third 54th Army during the same period.

In order to capture the Sevastopol fortress and crack the Russians' turtle shell, the artillery of this unit really showed its magical powers.

They were equipped with an 800mm Gustav, a 420mm Gamma howitzer, a battalion of Karl mortars, and a company of 280mm Bruno railway guns.

In addition to the above-mentioned unconventional artillery, Germany III also dispatched two 305mm howitzer battalions, two 240mm howitzer battalions, and three 150mm howitzer battalions.

TG does not have this level of firepower, but it does not need it.

However, the artillery of the Eighth Route Army in Shandong Province is not bad either. The Tigers in the Forest now have six battalions of M1932 155mm cannons.

Looking at the towering gun barrels around them with a length of 8.5 meters, the artillery soldiers temporarily transferred to the Shandong Provincial Military Region sighed again.

"Principal Zhu, we should be able to fight to our heart's content this time. The Japanese don't have air superiority, and their divisional artillery regiments don't have enough range. We don't even have to move our positions."

"Tsk, six battalions, 72 155mm cannons that can fire over kilometers, this is a really rich war."

"By the way, will our Eighth Route Army have thicker barrels in the future, such as over 200mm, or even the legendary railway guns?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Principal Zhu immediately glared at his student.

In the battlefield of the Republic of China, the standard for the deployment of a Japanese division was about 5 kilometers wide. As long as it was not against an independent heavy artillery brigade, a range of 15 to 20 kilometers was definitely enough.

The 155mm F- equipped by our own troops is a powerful weapon that is considered a treasure even on the European battlefield.

That's it, aren't you satisfied?

Thinking of this, Principal Zhu raised his eyebrows and said in a teasing tone:

"Yes, of course. Is 203mm thick enough? If not, there are 356mm, 410mm and 460mm guns for you to choose from."

"How about this, after the Ludong Campaign is over, I will immediately send you to report to the navy. What kind of cannon you want to fire at that time will all depend on you to capture on your own."

Having said this, Principal Zhu paused.

He suddenly thought of something, that is, the Weapons Experimental Research Bureau really has the design drawings and construction plans of the railway gun, and it is said that it is a trump card prepared for the battle outside the border one year later. (End of this chapter)